This invention is in the field of compressed air tanks used primarily for fire-fighting and needed for rapid replacement of exhausted compressed air tanks carried on the backs of firemen as they go into a fire with masks on supplied with air from the tanks on the firemen's backs.
The air in such a tank is quickly exhausted, and there is great danger involved. When a tank is exhausted and there is no other tank to replace it, then a fireman can no longer work with the safety of a gas mask. Rescue work or fire-fighting by that fireman must then stop until he can make his way down and out of a building to get a replacement tank.
When a building has multiple stories, the time required to go back outside to get another tank is so critical that sometimes even the fireman dies from lack of oxygen on his way back out of the building.
When a fireman is rapidly entering a building, he needs to be able to carry a pack full of equipment in one hand, and in the prior art, this leaves only the possibility of carrying one replacement tank in his other hand.
Since tanks are so quickly exhausted, it is important to be able to have more tanks available than just one replacement tank. It is my concept that a dual tank carrier would enable a fireman to carry two tanks with the same hand, thereby doubling the amount of available compressed air being moved into the emergency area.
Another objective of this invention is to provide for the possibility of a fireman, who is not otherwise burdended, to be able to carry four tanks, two tanks in each hand by the use of two carriers of this invention.
I have found that when tanks are carried in this way, it is important that they remain parallel and not twist out of place with respect to each other, that they stay vertical during rapid movement of the fireman, whereby they are easier to carry, interfere less with the leg movements of the firemen, and remain vertical and parallel so that they are adapted to be easily and quickly placed on a horizontal floor surface in standing up position without falling over from the angles with respect to the vertical that they might shift into.
An object of this invention is to provide the concept of so making a dual tank carrier that the tanks of a pair being carried are disposed in engagement with each other, whereby the frictional contact of one tank with the other will tend to prevent them from twisting with respect to the vertical so that it is easier for the fireman to walk and easier for the fireman to set the tanks up in vertical position ready for emergency use in the split seconds of time between life and death at fires.
Another object is to provide a dual tank carrier which has additional uses as a wrench for disconnecting hose fittings and operating valves of various kinds.